Jobs Online monthly report – March 2011
Jobs Online measures changes in job ads on the two main internet job boards - SEEK and Trade Me Jobs.
Job advertisements increased further…
Jobs Online shows skilled vacancies[1] increased by 7.1% and all vacancies increased by 6.2% between December 2010 and March 2011 (see Figure 1).
Over the past year, skilled vacancies increased by 32.7% and all vacancies increased by 29.5%. Job ads have been increasing consistently since June 2009, when they were at their lowest point due to the recession with skilled vacancies up by 63.9% and all vacancies up by 65.5% since that time.
Figure 1: Skilled Vacancies Index (SVI) and All Vacancies Index (AVI) - Trend series (May 2007=100)
Vacancies grew in most industries and all skilled occupation groups
Table 1 shows that growth in the number of advertised skilled vacancies varied across industry groups between December 2010 and March 2011. The largest increase for an industry group was in I.T. (up by 9%) and the only decrease was in education and training (down by 1.9%). The largest increase for an occupational group was for Technicians and Trades Workers (up by 11.1%). Compared to a year ago, the number of advertised skilled vacancies increased across most industries and major skilled occupational groups.
| Industry group | Dec 10 – Mar 11 | Mar 10 - Mar 11 |
|---|---|---|
| IT | 9.0% | 65.3% |
| Hospitality & tourism | 6.1% | 28.6% |
| Construction and engineering | 6.0% | 22.6% |
| Accounting, HR, legal and admin | 3.4% | 16.6% |
| Sales, retail, marketing & advertising | 2.3% | 13.3% |
| Healthcare & medical | 0.2% | 4.6% |
| Education & training | -1.9% | -1.3% |
| Other | 9.9% | 43.2% |
| Occupational group | ||
| Managers | 4.8% | 28.3% |
| Professionals | 5.9% | 31.4% |
| Technicians and trades workers | 11.1% | 48.8% |
Figure 2: Detailed industry charts and data
Vacancy growth was low in Canterbury but strong in other regions
Table 2 shows that Canterbury experienced mild vacancy growth of 1.2% between December 2010 and March 2011. This reflects a slowing in vacancy growth after the September 2010 earthquake as well as the very sharp drop in job ads following the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Other regions in the South Island experienced the strongest growth with skilled vacancies up by 10.2%. Compared to one year ago, skilled vacancies increased for all regions, with the strongest growth recorded in Auckland (up by 39.3%).
In Canterbury, there was an increase in vacancies in construction and engineering (up by 7.6%). The strong growth in Canterbury is to be expected given the reconstruction activity needed following the earthquakes. Other industries showing an increase in Canterbury were hospitality and tourism (up by 4.4%) and sales (up by 0.9%). Industries showing the largest decrease in Canterbury were I.T. (down by 7.2%), accounting, H.R., legal and admin (down by 3.7%) and education and training (down by 1.5%).
| Region | Dec 10 – Mar 11 | Mar 10 – Mar 11 |
|---|---|---|
| Auckland | 7.2% | 39.3% |
| Wellington | 8.1% | 26.6% |
| North Island – other | 7.3% | 25.3% |
| Christchurch | 1.2% | 23.3% |
| South Island – other | 10.2% | 15.3% |
Figure 3: Detailed region charts and data
Detailed charts and data tables for the figures used in this report can be found at: Annual Percentage Change in Advertised Job Vacancies, March 2010 to March 2011.
For more on Jobs Online, see the Background and Methodology report at www.dol.govt.nzmethodology or email the Labour Market Information and Analysis Team at research@mbie.govt.nz.
